Large parts of the UK are set for a final blast of heavy snow today with Britain's big freeze likely to last for at least four more days.

After a weekend of blizzards for many, up to 20cm of snow will fall in the next 24 hours as it spreads northwards from south-east England this morning, with the north-east suffering most.

The freezing conditions mean that Britain's transport network is creaking again with roads closed after crashes or impassable because of ice. Many trains are being cancelled and airports are warning of severe disruption all day.

Heathrow says at least 10 per cent of its flights, around 155, will be axed as they struggle to cope with more snow and poor visibility. Norwich, East Midlands and Robin Hood Doncaster airports are currently closed.

And motorists attempting to use Britain's major roads are also struggling this morning, with the M40 closed in Warwickshire close to its junction with the M42, while there are severe delays on the M1 through South Yorkshire.

Two major roads across the Pennines, the A628 Woodhead Pass and the A66 between Brough and Bowes are shut, while the A1 at Scotch Corner is also closed.

Hundreds of schools across the length and breadth of the UK have been forcedshut today with children able to enjoy another day of fun in the snow.

To make matters worse the Met Office has warned of severe cold weather, including seb-zero temperatures until Thursday for much of the country, which they say will make conditions 'treacherous'.

A woman, believed to be in her
twenties, has died after being found in the snow. She was
discovered by a man walking his dog in Church Meadow, Deal, Kent, at
7.30am yesterday morning, police said and pronounced dead at the scene.

It is understood she was walking home from a night out in the town centre when she collapsed.

'The
woman's death is not being treated as suspicious but it is unexplained.
A post-mortem examination will be held later this week.' Kent Police
said.

Two others have died in car crashes, one in Kelvedon in Essex yesterday and another in Oxford on Saturday.

Are you out in the snow? Email all your pictures to mailonlinepictures@dailymail.co.uk

Delays: Snow was still falling in Stamford Hill, North London, this morning, with a blanket settling on the station platforms. Commuters have been warned to expect cancellations

Saviours: These firefighters pulled a man out of a north London lake after he fell through ice while walking his dog last night

Relief: It appears the man saw the dog fall through the ice and went on to save the animal, but got into trouble himself. A woman towels off the dog (left) while the man who was saved stands wrapped in blankets (right) near Alexandra Palace

Relief: This woman looks drained clutching the dog that was lucky to survive after it fell into an icy lake late yesterday

An amber ‘severe weather’ warning was
issued by the Met Office last night for areas such as the Pennines
which will be worst affected by snow. Heavy snow will continue to hit
the eastern coast of England today before spreading to the north of the
country, leaving up to 2ins (5cm) of fresh snowfall on frozen ground.
Some areas of high ground could see almost 8ins (20cm) of fresh snowfall
today.

Freezing temperatures – as low as
-13C (9F) in some areas – are expected to keep snow and ice on the
ground well into next week. And it means parts of Britain could be
colder than Vladivostock, Siberia, which is experiencing temperatures of
-9C (16F).

At Heathrow Airport planes are due to
be grounded for a fourth day and passengers are advised to check the
status of their flights before travelling to the airport.

Yesterday
passengers were left fuming after 260 flights were cancelled - 20 per
cent of the airport's usual business - and today 10 per cent are due to
be cancelled because of expected low visibility.

The rail network is also braced for another day of snow and ice-related delays and cancellations.

East
Coast, Eurostar, First Capital Connect, London Overground,
Southeastern, Southern, South West Trains and Virgin trains are all
disrupted.

Heavy falls in the North East made for a tricky morning commute for many today. Northumbria Police said the A68 in Northumberland was not passable, with problems at its junction with the A69.

Drivers were advised to avoid the B6341 at Rothbury and reported a four-vehicle collision on the Spine Road at Cramlington, next to the 3 Horse Shoes roundabout.

Officers also said the A1 in the Newcastle area suffered traffic congestion.

A spokesman said: 'There are difficult driving conditions across the force at the current time and motorists are advised to take their time on the roads.

'Snowfall is expected throughout the rest of the day and we will continue to have officers out in the community. Gritters have been out throughout the night and will continue throughout today.'

The snow was even too bad for a Siberian husky racing event, which had to be cancelled over the weekend - because of the wintry conditions.

The dogs might be able to cope with
temperatures as low as -50C, but it was the ice that meant the British
Siberian Husky Racing event at Sherwood Pines Forest Park, Notts, was
called off.

Organiser Sharon Sargent said: 'It
wasn't an easy decision to make but when we checked the course on Friday
there was a lot of ice and given the speeds the racers go at we decided
it was too dangerous for the meet to go ahead.

'If it was just snow on the ground then we would have been fine, but it was just compacted ice.

'The safety and welfare of the riders
has to come first - they travel at up to 25mph and it just wasn't safe
when we inspected the course.

'It is a real shame, for both us as
organisers who have spent a long time setting the event up and the
competitors who were looking forward to the weekend.'

Disruption: Roads, railways and airports are all expecting disruption today because of more poor weather. The latest severe weather warning map from the Met Office on Monday (left) shows alerts for snow and ice will cover much of the UK while

Snowfall will continue to push north through northern England and Scotland today, dumping up to 7cm in many areas and up to 15cm on higher ground.

Sally Webb, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the Press Association's weather division, said there will be less snow in the south.

'The rest of the week will stay cold, and the snow system will continue to push north through tomorrow morning before gradually clearing,' she said.

'For most of the week it will be drier with some sunny spells, with a few wintry showers about, especially on the North Sea coasts.

'It will be cold until the weekend, and then a little milder, and the risk of snow will decrease'.

Blanketed: The Yorkshire countryside looks like a winter wonderland with snow turning the fields white

On track: A rail track near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire cuts through the snowy fields as a train speeds towards York

Business as usual: The continuing freeze has caused travel chaos in many areas of the country, but not for rail travelers on this train as it makes its way across the North Yorkshire countryside

Stunning: The grounds of the picturesque Harewoood House, near Leeds were covered with snow

Winter wonderland: An aerial shot of a snowy and bitterly cold York Minster yesterday

Snow day: Dozens of thrill seekers young and old took to the hills to sledge near Otley, West Yorkshire

Fun in the snow: People playing in the snow near Otley, West Yorkshire

A gritting lorry grits the A1 motorway as cars try to drive through a snow blizzard between Stevenage and Hitchin in Hertfordshire this evening

A train cuts through snow between Stevenage and Hitchin as the snow which has been on going for the last 24 hours all over the UK continues to fall

A woman is airlifted to hospital by the Great North Air Ambulance after injuring her leg in a sledging accident in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire today. Britain is currently in the grip of treacherous and icy roads, airport misery and delayed trains

Children play along The Leys in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, where residents have made a super sledging run in the road. Local children even prevented council workers from salting the road by sitting down across the road to block the gritters

Kyle Hurley, eight, slides along The Leys in Chipping Norton. Families across Britain made the most of the snow over the weekend

Jago Williams, eight, also takes to the 'slopes' in Chipping Norton. Temperatures are expected to keep the country white for two weeks as cold snap refuses to let the snows thaw

Everyone who lives in the Leys seems to love the sledging run and have even joked that they want to apply for a ski lift to be installed for future years fun

Deluge: The south of the UK was hit with heavy snow, leaving the city of Southampton in Hampshire with a thick covering

Freezing temperatures - as low as -13C (9F) in some areas - are expected to keep snow and ice on the ground well into next week

Dave Britton, of the Met Office,
said: ‘It is going to be a very, very cold week. In the places where
it’s not snowing it is going to be very icy.

‘Some of this ice and snow might melt
during the day but it will rapidly freeze again overnight so the
weather will be quite treacherous everywhere. The snow and ice on the
ground will not be going anywhere fast.’

Many roads were described as ‘skating rinks’ yesterday and were expected to get worse as snow continued to fall.

A man died and another person was injured in a road crash in snowy conditions on the A12 near Kelvedon in Essex. The crash happened shortly after 7pm.

On Saturday, a 26-year-old woman was killed after her car skidded off the A40 North Way in Headington, Oxford.

Motorists were advised to leave extra
time for journeys and travel with a weather emergency kit including
warm clothes, food, water, a torch and a spade.

They were also warned to defrost
their cars properly and not travel like ‘tank commander’ drivers with
just a tiny hole scraped in their windscreen.

Motorists in eastern Scotland were urged to be extra cautious with heavy snowfall predicted overnight.

The Met Office put amber warnings in place in the Borders, north-east Fife, Perth & Kinross, Angus, Aberdeenshire and Moray.

Transport Minister Keith Brown said: 'As the wintry weather continues, Transport Scotland stands ready to respond swiftly and appropriately. Our Multi Agency Response Team (MART) will monitor the difficult conditions and the Scottish Government's resilience team is also closely monitoring the situation to help deliver a co-ordinated response.

'While we have implemented a raft of improvements ranging from higher than ever salt stocks to a strengthened fleet of gritters, the public must play their part by making full used of the vast sources of communications available. Drivers should take the road conditions into consideration, leaving extra time for journeys if necessary.'

Part of the A628 between Hollingworth and Flouch in South Yorkshire was closed in both directions overnight because the snow had made driving conditions impossible.

Heavy snow fall has closed two major roads across the Pennines and the A66 between Brough and Bowes have also been closed today.

One Audi driver sparked outrage
yesterday after he was pictured on the M4 in a snow-laden car – with
just a six-inch gap to see through. Jonathan Ellis, wrote on Twitter:
‘Some people should not be allowed cars. Spotted on the M4 today. I
mean, seriously?!’

Activists erect shelters in a snow-covered tree to prevent land clearing for the construction of a by-pass road at Crowhurst near Hastings, today

Court-appointed bailiffs have already been evicting protesters tethered to trees lining the route

An activist looks out from his snow-covered tree house. So far, 19 have been arrested, but their presence has already delayed the arrival of bulldozers on the site for several weeks

Some activists have chosen to beat the snow by burrowing beneath the earth to shelter from the elements

West Midlands Ambulance Service are warning people to only travel if essential and take extra care on roads and pavements. Pictured is an unusually quiet Pershore Road in Edgbaston, Birmingham

Winter fun: People enjoy the snow at Greenwich Park in London

Helen Atkinson in a garden on the outskirts of York as she gives a snowman she built a warm drink, and a snow-dappled horse

Britain is braced for more travel
mayhem this week as forecasters warned the freezing weather will stay
for at least another four days.

Large parts of the country are
covered in a blanket of snow and ice meaning conditions are already
potentially lethal on roads and motorways.

Now
the Met Office has warned of severe cold weather, ice and heavy snow
until Thursday for much of the country, which will make conditions
‘treacherous’.

Many train
operators ran reduced services yesterday which are due to continue
today. And stranded air passengers were forced to sleep on terminal
floors as flights were cancelled, including 125 – one in ten – at
Heathrow today.

Northamptonshire Police also put the
picture on their Twitter page, along with the caption: ‘A good reminder
to clear your car of snow!’ AA president Edmund King said: ‘The hidden
danger is the sheet ice below the inch or two of fresh snow on ungritted
local roads. Many of these residential roads are like ice rinks.’

Thousands of passengers were forced
to sleep at Heathrow airport over the weekend after hundreds of flights
were cancelled, including 260 yesterday.

Michael Guy, 24, from Limavady, in
Northern Ireland, was due to fly to Melbourne on Saturday, but missed
his connection after his flight from Belfast was cancelled. He had to
sleep on the floor on Terminal 4 on Saturday night after arriving at 9pm
and was not expected to get another flight out until late last night.

Mr Guy said: ‘It’s not been particularly comfortable sleeping on the floor but I suppose it’s one of those things.’

Airport hotels had hiked up their
prices yesterday to take advantage of those stuck because of the bad
weather. Passengers said some hotel rooms were being offered for £600.
Last night the Sofitel at Terminal 5 was offering rooms at £288, even
for those who just wanted somewhere to rest for a couple of hours. Hotel
workers said room rates had been put up by about £50 because of the
weather.

The Met Office’s amber warning
triggers action by social and healthcare services to look at high-risk
and vulnerable groups including the very young, very old and those with
chronic diseases.

A spokeswoman for the Met Office said
the cold snap was set to continue while Atlantic fronts attempt to see
off freezing air coming in from northern Europe. She added: ‘This is the
most widespread snow fall across the country since 2010.’

The rail network is also braced for another day of snow and ice-related delays and cancellations.

East Coast, Eurostar, First Capital Connect, London Overground, Southeastern, Southern, South West Trains and Virgin trains are all facing disruption.

A 16-year-old boy was in hospital
with ‘life-threatening’ head injuries last night after falling off a
toboggan while sledging in Middlesbrough.

Children look on at unusual 'snow circles' which have appeared in the frozen Mill Pond at Emsworth in Hampshire

A photographer captures the wintry scene, which seems to already be melting

The dusting of snow combined with ice created a beautiful rippled effect across the water

Siberian railway: A train travels through freezing countryside covered in snow at Crowhurst near Hastings

Charity: Mark Smithies and Jess Railton, both 20, prepare for a second night camping in their Igloo for Charity. They have raised £400 so far for homeless charity 'Crisis' by sleeping rough in the cold

Flood warnings are in place throughout the South West, South East, Wales, Cambridgeshire and the North East due to sleet and snow and the threat of rain

Tourist and siteseers cross the River Thames on the Millennium Bridge in the shadow of St Paul's

Bird's eye: A view of the famous glass houses from the Treetop Walkway at Kew Gardens in London

Stark beauty: The freezing River Dee in Llangollen, North Wales

What are you looking at?: A hen pheasant fluffs her feathers into a ball to keep out the cold at Stonegate in East Sussex, while a woman braves the cold on Brighton beach near the iconic pier

Cute: Billy the Eagle Owl gets wrapped up for the snow after birthday girl May Eastland, 4, from Portsmouth, lent him her new scarf and a tiny hat to keep him warm

Snow and ice on the road in Little Baddow, near Chelmsford, Essex. Snow and ice on the road in Little Baddow, near Chelmsford, Essex. A hardy cyclist braves the snow in Cambridge

Wrong time of year!: An ice cream van in Roundhay Park, Leeds. Amazingly, customers are lining up

Toe-tally frozen: Staffordshire saw a foot of snow after artisitic Stephanie Phillips, 22, built this sculpture in Burton-on-Trent

A woman walks through a line of snow-covered trees in Clifton, Bristol, as snow grips the South West

In a separate incident, a
40 year old woman sustained a leg injury when she fell from a fast
moving sledge in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire. She was treated at the
scene before being airlifted to James Cook Hospital by the Great North
Air Ambulance.

A man has also been treated for
broken facial bones in Kent after he was racially attacked when he
confronted a group of teenagers throwing snowballs at him.

Kent Police said the 33-year-old was
out walking with his wife, 31, in Sheepfold Lane, Park Farm, Ashford, at
about 2.30pm today when the unprovoked attack occurred.

Four teenage boys aged between 16 and 17 have been arrested.

The smiling Queen accepts a bouquet of flowers from a youngster

The Queen and Prince Philip brave the cold to attend church at Castle Rising on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk today

A
police spokesman said: 'A 33-year-old man was out for a walk with his
wife when a group of young people started throwing snowballs at them.'When he asked them to stop, they started racially abusing him and then viciously assaulted him.

'He has been taken to hospital with facial injuries. His wife was also assaulted in the incident and received minor injuries.'

In
Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, children are believed to have stopped the
council from gritting their street by staging a 'sit-in' on the road.

The
residents of The Leys believe their street is the best in the country
for sledging along and have been making the most of the wintry
conditions by turning it into a ski and toboggan slope.

The freezing temperatures will effectively keep the country white for two weeks as the cold snap refuses to let the snows thaw.

The prediction of prolonged cold
weather will bring a further chill to commuters and holidaymakers after
two days of snow brought airports and transport networks to a shuddering
halt.

The cold spell,
already nine days long, will last at least another week, with the Met
Office forecasting lows down to -13C and more snow in the West by
Friday.

Tow in the snow: Bournemouth University student Olly Smith, 21, was so desperate to hand in his coursework he was towed by a 4x4 on skis in a bid to beat the weather

Daredevil: Mr Smith clutched an extension lead attached to a 4x4 and was filmed by his friends

Blinding: A canopy of snow-encrusted trees hangs over a passing 4x4 near Simonsbath, Somerset

Little Eskimo: Amelia Honor, age 7, emerges from an igloo on the Bristol Downs

The Brecon and Monmouthshire canal frozen over in the village of Llangynidr in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Powys, Wales

Dangerous: An Audi drives along the M4 yesterday with a gap of only a few inches in the snow on its windscreen

A snow-shrouded tree near the village of Llanvihangel Tor-y-Mynydd, in Monmouthshire. Snow drifts up to two metres deep built up in exposed areas

Parts of Britain will be even colder than Vladivostock, Siberia, which will only fall to -9C at night in midweek.

The Weather Channel forecast lows
down to -20C from midweek and said a two-week chill with widespread
sub-zero nights and days close to freezing only happens on average 'once
every 10 years'.

Weather Channel forecaster Leon Brown
said: 'We expect very cold conditions to last another week - and a
two-week period such as this, with sub-zero nights and days close to
freezing is a one in 10 year occurrence.

'We could see -15C to -20C lows later in the week in the Midlands, mid-Wales and Scottish Highlands.'

Prolonged winter freezes were very rare in past decades, until cold spells in the 2009-10 winter and December 2010.

The Government’s cold weather health
warning, ordering health staff to make daily contact with the elderly,
ill and vulnerable, has been extended until at least Thursday.

The
Met Office has issued yellow warnings for ice for much of the country
and advised people to take extra care as snow turns to ice in the
sub-zero conditions.

It comes as four climbers were swept to their deaths in an avalanche in the Scottish Highlands.

They were climbing on Bidean Nam Bian near Glencoe when a snow-covered slope is believed to have given way, sending them hundreds of feet to their deaths. Two of the six-strong party survived, one of whom, a woman, is seriously injured in hospital.

Seven people were also taken to hospital after a double-decker bus collided with two cars and ploughed into a garden, Humberside Fire and Rescue Service said.

Freezing conditions have also also prompted motoring organisations to issue warnings.

Darron Burness, the AA's head of special operations, said: 'With the snow compacting down and turning icy, we're likely to see treacherous driving conditions throughout the weekend.

'Any fresh snow on top will just add to the problems.'

Sally Webb, a forecaster with
MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said today's
snow would be heaviest in the South East, East Anglia and the East
Midlands, spreading into the West Midlands, West Wales, Lincolnshire and
Lancashire and southern parts of Scotland.

'It
is going to remain cold for at least the next week,' she said. 'We
expect it to remain cold and there to be snow or sleet for the next week
in most areas.

'It
will also be icy everywhere, especially with the snow melt, and
temperatures are going to be no more than 1C, dropping below zero
overnight.'

Meanwhile, a 'foot' of snow was seen in Staffordshire yesterday as Britain's temperatures plummeted. Creative Stephanie Phillips, 22, built this sculpture of a foot using snow while out enjoying the cold conditions at Branston cricket club in Burton-on-Trent.

The snow foot took around two hours to build using various garden tools to carve the toes and shape.

Stephanie said: 'I started with a base of blocks of snow and then used a trowel to carve the toes and shape the foot.

'People walking past found it quite funny.'

Air time: Joseph Tanti, 14, of Crickhowell, Powys, Wales makes the most out of the snow on the surrounding hills

Snow fun: The Brecon Beacons were draped in snow, attracting scores of youngsters with their sledges

Frolic: Kirsten Cook with her dog Millie enjoying sledging in Birmingham.
Ice and freezing temperatures are expected across the UK, as well as more snow - particularly in eastern parts of the country